


Adventures by Numbers

by ermengarde



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Gen, Past Drug Addiction, Past Drug Use, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-29 04:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17800934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ermengarde/pseuds/ermengarde
Summary: Written for the prompt:6.  Patrick Stump/ or & Mikey Way - Boring adventures.Wherein Patrick is camping at Pete's and Pete calls in reinforcements.Story contains references to depression and past drug mis-use and self-medication. Ultimately the story is hopeful, but not magical.





	Adventures by Numbers

Patrick _knows_ that he is turning into a grumpy third wheel, knows that while Pete will let him hang out forever and Megan has the patience of a saint he doesn't belong here, surrounded by chaos and diapers and kids and Petepetepete. 

It's ridiculous anyway, when they went on hiatus Patrick was an inch and a second away from punching Pete in his stupid fucking teeth and Patrick really _didn't_ miss living in Pete's pocket for the whole two-and-a-bit years that they managed to stay away from writing songs together, but somehow Patrick's lost the skill of being alone and entertaining himself. Somehow he lives with Pete now, and tries to remember how to function when there's no recording and no touring, and songwriting happens around babies and family, and this real life that Patrick doesn't seem to have anymore somehow.

Uhg. He hates how co-dependent they are, how dependent _he_ is when it's not a joke for an interviewer.

Pete's even suggested that Patrick, maybe, sort of... might want to go and see Pete's doctor? Because...um.

And the thing is, Patrick knows Pete's right, that there's something off-kilter inside Patrick's... Patrick, but the thought of talking about it is exhausting, and he needs to get his own place in LA or go back to Chicago or.. well, _something_ , and it just all sounds like very hard work when he can hide in Pete's studio and lose himself in engineering a track, and shower when Pete tells him he stinks, and eat when the kids have eaten dinner and left half of their food on their plates ready for him to pick at. 

It's been weeks since he even charged his cellphone, because anyone who wants to talk to Patrick will just call one of Pete's 97 phones and what's the fucking point, really, because there's no one calling him other than his mom, anyway. It's a Tuesday, he thinks - not a Sunday when his mom usually calls, anyway - when Pete comes into the studio holding an iphone in a purple case that Patrick doesn't think he's seen before.

"It's for you, dude." He says, handing the phone over and turning to leave.

The phone screen says _sldotp_ which tells Patrick nothing. "Uh. Hello?"

"Hey Patrick." It's a voice Patrick knows, but he can't exactly place it. "Pete said you needed some adventuring, but, like, boring adventuring, so I thought you should come over and play in Gee's next D&D session." . 

It's MikeyWay, which is weird, except for the fact that Pete and Mikey talk all the time now that they've stopped their silent painful fighting. 

"Ummm. I don't know..."

"It's cool, Gee has a billion ideas for adventures but it always takes him forever to get things started so you've got at least four sessions to learn. I figure once you've heard all of the backstory and Gee's explained the symbolism and shit, you'll be ready for some not boring adventures, but, like, still inside of a house."

"Uhh." Patrick's not sure what to do with this chatty Mikey - Pete's always said that Mikey talks all the time, but Patrick's really only spent time with him in Pete or Gerard's company and Pete and Gerard both talk enough for fourteen people each so... 

"I'll be there to pick you up in, like, uhh.... five, I think. Unless Pete's access code has changed again." Now that Patrick's listening for it, Mikey's voice does have that echoey, bottled, quality of car speakerphone.

"But, I... " Patrick's not fit for company. "I... shower....ummm."

"Dude, it's _Gerard_ , it'll be fine. We're stopping to get take out, anyway, so we'll just pick up something smelly. Come on outside dude." Mikey hangs up.

Patrick figures that it's easier just to put on some shoes and go and meet Mikey at the kerb.

 

It turns out that Mikey's idea of smelly take out is just _all of_ the take out, because they must hit every food van and hole-in-the-wall joint and drivethru between Pete's place and Gerard's and the back seat of Mikey's car is filled with bags of food. Patrick's not at all sure if the smell is making him hungry or nauseous.

"Pete said you're having kind of a hard time right now?" Mikey asks, keeping his eyes on the road in front of them.

"Ehh.." Patrick shrugs.

"S'cool. Sometimes things are shit." Mikey pauses for a moment. "You're only medicating with Pete's studio, right?"

"Yeah." Patrick nods. He wouldn't have called it medicating, but... maybe that's what it is.

"Like, I can give you the name of someone, if you want, if you need to, like, achieve some shit right now, or whatever, but as long as you're not doing what I did then it's all cool."

Patrick doesn't know all of the details of Mikey's, uhh, more recent issues, but he remembers when both of the Ways were neck deep and drowning in self-medication and he knows that they both still have their battles, so... "No.. no I've never really... that's never really been what's worked for me, I, uhhh... work, like, has always..."

Mikey shrugs. "Too much work's not healthy either - Gee's been there - but, like, it's not as immediate and..." Mikey turns his head quickly and smiles at Patrick. "I think we can probably sub in some of your working time for time with almost real people at Gee's game."

"Almost real..?" 

"Well, like, real, real _and_ Gee's NPCs. It's like socialising with thousands, but with only, like, four. I figured that might be easier. It's easier for me and Gee, and the real real people mostly aren't _people_ people anyway."

Patrick knows that Mikey is using real words, but not in a way that makes much sense to him.. but it's Mikey and Patrick trusts him so... "Okay."

"Cool." Mikey turns the blinker on and pulls into a driveway. "Hey, do you want to borrow my bone dice? They're cool as fuck."

"Ummm." Patrick really needs to remember that the Way brothers are fucking weird. 

Mikey laughs. "They're not, like, real bone. Andy won't commit militant vegan murder or anything.. it's just like, their shape. They're kinda...." Mikey makes a grabbing gesture and Patrick's glad they've stopped moving. "Gee says they're _pleasing_ , and I guess that's maybe it. They feel good in your hand."

That sounds nice, so Patrick nods and starts helping to unload all of the food from the back of the car. Let the boring adventures begin.

**Author's Note:**

> *sldotp = Sweetest Little Dude Other Than Patrick.


End file.
